PawSox top Syracuse 2-1 in playoff opener

Thursday

Sep 4, 2014 at 6:40 AMSep 4, 2014 at 7:16 AM

They may be in the International League's Final Four as the Wild Card team, and most of their best pitchers are now receiving their fanmail at Fenway Park, but the Pawtucket Red Sox are determined to make some noise in the postseason.

The IL's North Division champion Syracuse Chiefs found that out last night, as the PawSox topped them 2-1 in ten innings in the opening game of their best-of-five playoff series at McCoy Stadium.

The playoff series continues tonight with Game Two at 7:05 p.m. at McCoy, before shifting to Syracuse for the final three games, if needed.

Pawtucket Red Sox starter Edwin Escobar, the 22-year old lefthander acquired from the Giants as part of the Jake Peavy deal, threw a superlative 98-pitches Wednesday night, holding the Chiefs scoreless on five hits. Thanks to first baseman Travis Shaw's home run leading off the Pawtucket sixth, Escobar looked like a cinch for a complete game 1-0 victory.

Unfortunately, with two outs in the Chiefs ninth and two strikes, his 99th pitch was slammed over the left field berm by Syracuse third baseman Brandon Laird. That ended the Venezuelan native's night, but Laird is one of the Chiefs top hitters, had belted 18 regular season homers, and finished seventh in IL batting average with an even .300 mark. Nonetheless it almost ruined a storybook performance from the kid who'd opened this season in the Pacific Coast League.

While they surely didn't want or expect extra innings, the PawSox battled into the tenth inning, and eventually took advantage of a familiar face out of the Chiefs bullpen: old pal Manny Del Carmen. The East Bridgewater resident has had a very creditable season for the Chiefs, posting a 4-4 record with an earned run average of 3.13 and four saves over his 46 appearances.

Delcarmen had pitched the ninth inning for the Chiefs without much trouble, but he got in a jam quickly in the tenth. Pawtucket outfielder Bryce Brentz led off with his third hit of the night, a double to left field, and then Delcarmen walked Shaw. Syracuse manager Billy Gardner yanked Delcarmen at that point for righty Ryan Mattheus, who promptly walked Ryan Lavarnway to load the bases. Pawtucket third baseman Garin Cecchini lined a single right up the middle to end the game.

It was a fine night for both ends of the Pawtucket battery in fact, as catcher Blake Swihart, who was only promoted from double-A long enough to get 18 games with the PawSox under his belt, rapped out three hits Wednesday, while also guiding Escobar through his outstanding start. Since Boston recalled veteran backstop Dan Butler Tuesday, Swihart figures to be the starter for the rest of the postseason.

Ironically, reliever Heath Hembree, also acquired in that Peavy deal, came on to relieve Escobar, toss 1.1 perfect innings and get the win. Escobar ended up going 8.2 innings, allowing six hits and just that one run, while fanning seven and walking none. And, he was still hitting 93-94 on the stadium radar gun in his last inning of work.

"Escobar was phenomenal tonight, just terrific," said Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles. "He utilized a great mixture of pitches, and maintained a good tempo. He had a lot of life in his fastball, a good feel for his change-up, and a very effective breaking ball. The way the game was going, and where his pitch count was, we felt we had to let him go out there in the ninth and get his complete game."

"Escobar was able to use his breaking ball, down and in, against righthanders," said Boles. "he also had real confidence in his change-up. You could see that Syracuse never got comfortable at the plate, because he was very unpredictable, the way he mixed his pitches."

"You can't say much when he makes one mistake like that, after he's been that outstanding all night," said Boles of the Laird home run. "That is also a quality hitter, one of the best in the whole league."

"Swihart was also terrific tonight," Boles added. "Not just at the plate with three hits, but the way he handled Escobar all night--those two were on the same page."

Escobar was casually getting dressed, without any icebag on his wing after his 99-pitch gem.

"Everything was working for me tonight," Escobar said. "I was feeling pretty good--until I made that one pitch-mistake. I was working the strike zone inside a lot, and everything was working, my curve, my change-up was good. I've been working a lot on my mechanics since I got here, and then I just go out there and try to throw strikes."

And obviously, stamina was not a problem for the young lefty.

"I feel pretty good today, and I felt strong all night," said Escobar. "It's been a long season I guess, but I feel alright, and ready to keep pitching as long as they want me to go."

Tonight's game figures to have UConn product Matt Barnes (8-9, 3.95 regular season) on the mound for the PawSox, while Syracuse goes with Scott McGregor (1-2, 3.91).

IL LEADERS: Final statistics for the International League's regular season were released this week, with some interesting sidelights to this series. Leading the IL in wins and earned run average was Pawtucket's Anthony Ranaudo, with his 14-4 record and 2.61 ERA. Next best was Syracuse starter Taylor Hill 11-7, 2.81. Fourth best ERA in the IL was PawSox Allen Webster, 4-4 and 3.10. Hill led the league with WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) at 1.12, while Ranaudo was third at 1.20. Ranaudo was the top man in the league for opponents' average at .223, while Webster was third at .234

The IL's top batter for the season was Chiefs outfielder Steven Souza Jr., at .350 in 96 games, with 18 homers, a league-leading .590 slugging percentage, and league-best .432 on base percentage, but luckily for the PawSox, Souza was promoted to Washington by the parent club Nationals. Pawtucket didn't place a hitter in the IL's top ten, while Syracuse placed third sacker Brandon Laird and shortstop Emmanuel Burriss, who tied for seventh place at .300, and are both on hand for this playoff series. Burriss also led the IL in lowest ratio of strikeouts to plate appearances, whiffing only every 12.44 at bats.